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Today in rock history: on this date in 1967, The Kinks released its fifth studio album, Something Else By The Kinks. Containing what many consider to be the greatest Kinks song of all, “Waterloo Sunset.” The album ranks highly among fans of the band. Although the album sold poorly in both the U.K. and America, it has retained a respectable place in the band’s catalog of records and was voted no. 288 in a Rolling Stone magazine poll of the 500 greatest albums of all time. “Waterloo Sunset” climbed to no. 2 on U.K. singles chart the same year of the album’s release and the record also includes the single “Death of a Clown,” another of the many classic singles by one of the greatest British bands of all time, The Kinks.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1965, the Ford Motor Company became the first automaker to offer 8-track tape players in their line of new automobiles. For the first year after the introduction of the new tape players, the large, bulky cartridges were only available for purchase in auto parts stores. However, by 1966, 8-tracks would be available in record stores and would become hugely popular thanks to their portability and the rise in players that were available in many cars as well as in home stereo systems.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 2004, Ramones founder and lead guitarist Johnny Ramone (born John William Cummings) passed away at the age of 55 when he lost his battle to prostate cancer. The New York City native helped give the influential band its edge thanks to his loud, buzzsaw guitar and the attitude and swagger he always displayed. Johnny’s death followed lead singer Joey Ramone’s death in 2001 and the passing of bassist Dee Dee Ramone in 2002, marking a heartbreaking four-year span for fans of the groundbreaking forefathers of the New York City punk rock scene of the 1970s.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1983, Huey Lewis and the News released its blockbuster third album, Sports. The record reached the no. 1 spot on Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1984 and was the band’s best selling album of its career. The massively successful album reached sales in excess of 7 million copies sold in the U.S. alone and made the San Francisco-based band internationally known. Four of the album’s hit singles, “Heart and Soul,” “I Want A New Drug,” “If This Is It” and “The Heart of Rock & Roll” all cracked the top 10 on Billboard’s pop singles chart and the album wound up being one of the best-selling albums of 1984.
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This article appears in Sep 14-21, 2017.